Cheers to You, Fall

Yesterday marked the first day of Autumn, hand up if this is your favorite time of year!  To mark the arrival of the new equinox we even busted out some Fall / Halloween decorations.  The act prompted a serious debate with the Queen on the accepted timing of décor placement.  My obsessive compulsive tendencies dictate a regimented schedule for autumn activities:  Sept. 1- begin burning apple scented candles; Sept. 15- transition to apple/pumpkin candles, begin eating peanuts mixed with 3:1 ratio of candy corn; Oct 1- pumpkin candles, decorate with pumpkins & mums and commence baking all things pumpkin.      

 

The arrival of the glorious season marks the awakening of our shotguns from their summer slumber.  Dove hunting on indian summer evenings really gives you all the feelings!  Nothing humbles you quicker than trying to hit a walnut sized target whizzing through the air at 100 mph.

      

By the time I am mixing candy corns with peanuts and searching for caramel covered green apple suckers, it's time for early teal season.  Early Teal Season is a gateway season for regular duck season which is still a few weeks away.  

Birds & Bees

Spring has taken off like a rocket!  Turkey season was really weird...first, Kansas reduced hunters to just one spring turkey tag instead of two and then to lessen the spread of the Rona, out-of-state tags were eliminated.  None of the weirdness kept us from laying the hammer down!!

Things have been really busy at the farm, the new and improved garden has been planted, complete with new drip irrigation system.  The bee keeping operation has really expanded.  Earlier in the spring we caught two swarms of bees and did some hive splits.  Putting a swarm of bees into a hive is one of the coolest things to witness in nature.  You basically shake the swarm of bees out onto a bed sheet and they quickly organize and proceed to march directly into the hive.  Click on the picture below to watch the video!   

 
In just a few weeks we will be planting the first round of pumpkins in the new and improved patch.  This year the patch will be almost an acre!

You Want Cheese On That?

Filling the entire Narrows with the heavenly aroma of lightly charred grain fed beef is the marriage of my two favorite things...fishing and eating!  The Pike were a bit slow during the day, but the walleye got hot in a hurry along with the cheeseburgers!  BOOM!!!  Get some suckers!!!!  

"What's the use of life if you don't live it?"

                                                              ~Lee Brice  

It's Harvest Time

The rain finally stopped long enough to unload the animals from the ark and roll out the combines.  One report said it has rained 43% of the days since May 1st, its rained so much the gauges now measure in fathoms rather than inches.

The summer harvest is always a busy time which makes for hard work and long days.  Farming is the only job I know where you spend a dollar to make a quarter, the way this wheat harvest is going will prove no exception.

Finn loves spending time on the farm, he represents the 5th generation getting their hands dirty on this land.

Long Beards and Belt Buckles

My good friend Maverick Engelhart of Maverick Design produced this poster for the Hunt.  

Man do I love turkey hunting in Wyoming!  The landscape is just how I image the old west looked in 1876 when General Custer and the 7th Calvary marched through this place headed west to meet their fate at the Battle of Little Bighorn.  The abundance of wildlife is amazing....deer, antelope, elk and turkeys are around every corner.  Not to mention the host community of Hulett knows how to throw a party, after all they have been doing it for a while, this was the 10th Annual Old West Invitational Turkey Shoot.  Each spring, the Old West Invitational Turkey Shoot (OWITS) is held in Hulett, WY, with Devils Tower National Monument as the backdrop. The event is a cooperative effort with a two-pronged goal; raise funds for two great non-profits and promote wildlife conservation in Wyoming.

We were paired with two hunters for the hunt:  Paul Bennick is an Army veteran from Buffalo, WY and Ryan Bronson is the Director of Conservation and Policy for Vista Outdoor.  Both Paul and Ryan are accomplished hunters (which makes guiding so much easier).  Ryan nailed it when he described turkey hunting as, "a series of 50/50 events", he explained his theory this way, "50% of the time the setup is right and the bird goes this way and not that way, but the other 50% of the time, nothing goes right and the bird gives you the slip".  This hunt proved his theory as the early morning setups were nothing more than a front row seat to a symphony of gobbling and a good nap followed by frustration when the toms would fly down from the roost and follow hens off in the opposite direction of our setup.  However, on back to back days we were able to call birds up out of the same draw allowing both Paul and Ryan to tag out.   CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

Low and behold Paul's bird scored well enough to get him a belt buckle placing 3rd overall in the Hunt.  Buckles are awarded to the top three teams with the biggest bird (hunter, guide and landowner get buckles for each place).  Ben collected the 3rd Place Guide buckle! 

King of the Spring

No better way to get the juices flowing in the early morning before championship baseball!

Scored the come from behind game tying run and the go ahead run in the same inning!

Double Down

The Kansas Rut did not disappoint this year.  Activity in the woods really started to pick-up around November 5th and was absolutely crazy by the 10th & 11th.  The full moon in late October may have played a part in some boring evenings in the tree, but true to form, my favorite three day stretch of November 9-10-11 produced in a big way. 

 
I was thrilled to get a text from my boy informing me he had shot a buck.  I hated to steal his thunder, so I didn't tell him I had also shot a buck.  It wasn't until we had loaded his deer and were driving out of the field and he noticed we weren't on the road out and asked where we were going that I told him we needed to go load my buck. 

Casting North of the Border

Fishing in Canada is an incredible experience, one which should be your list of "things to do".  This year marked my 12th fishing trip to the providence of Manitoba which is home to Viking Lodge.  The drive is 1,400 miles straight north and takes less than 24 hours.  So many people tell me they are afraid of the drive, I explain it like this...you leave home in the morning and the next morning you are in a different world!  On the trip we target three main species of fish: northern pike, walleye and lake trout.  Recently, we have started fishing a different lake for monster rainbow and brook trout.

Viking Lodge is located in the Grassy River Provincial Park and sits on the First Cranberry Lake.  The area literally has hundreds of miles of fish-able water.

The typical day involves sleeping in until 9am, waking and eating a freshly baked cinnamon roll from the Lodge with a goal of hitting the water by 10am.  Early day fishing finds us targeting lake trout in deep water (40-50') or casting grass beds for northern pike.  Mid-day we pick up a few walleye on rocky points and have a shore lunch.  As evening comes we fish for walleye on points until sunset which occurs around 11pm, then we head back to the Lodge for some sleep.  When the day ends you realize your arm is sore because you have caught a lot of fish.

We don't beat ourselves up fishing for one species, if one is not biting another typically is on the bite.  If you need a change of scenery, there are portage lakes where you can park one boat and walk across land to another boat and fish an entirely different lake.  Ten days of fishing goes by in a flash!!               

Austin Jones

Life is measured by the profound moments that touch you in ways which are unexplainable.  The moment I met Austin & Jason Jones and the time we spent together qualified as just such a moment.  Being selected to guide Austin during Annual Old West Invitational Turkey Shoot in Hulett, Wyoming was truly an amazing experience.     

The father & son duo have a multi-faceted relationship, Jason (Austin's father) serves as caregiver, chauffeur, Sherpa, and guide.  The selfless sacrifice between parent and child is unparalleled.  When the pair arrived in Wyoming, they had been on the road for weeks logging thousands of miles hunting turkeys from Florida, to Kansas, to Colorado and all points in between!

Austin Jones is a twenty-one-year-old that was born with Muscular Dystrophy and has been on breathing machine, as well as in a wheelchair since he was six years old. Austin feels his calling in life is to inspire other people.  Austin is a bow hunter and tournament archer. Last year, he hunted in seven states and shot 3D tournaments in five. He is chasing the North American Super Slam of big game animals and attempting the Turkey Grand Slam. In 2016, Austin was the International Bow Hunting Organization, World and National Champion in the physically challenged bow hunter class. 

Austin is also a budding filmmaker with wicked talent and produces some pieces for outdoor television. He has been on Ted Nugent’s “Spirt of the Wild”, “Addiction Reloaded TV”, and is currently involved “The Den” on the Pursuit Channel.             

We had a great time hunting, but an even better time hanging out.  Austin has a great sense of humor and he and Ben were relentlessly picking on each other like two old men.  

Austin let Ben shoot his Gearhead X-16 Crossbow, amazingly quite and loaded with top-end features. 

Our time together in Wyoming was brief, but parting ways felt like saying goodbye to close family.  Austin has certainly inspired me to be a better person and Jason has been an example of a father's love. 

Jason was awarded the Brian Scott Gamroth 'Spirit of the Hunt' Award.  This award is given annually to a hunt participant who exhibits sportsmanship to the highest degree.  Jason was  recognized for the unconditional love and support he provides to his family, especially his dedication and care for Austin.  Rarely has an award been given to a more worthy recipient! 

Great April

It just so happened the second day of youth turkey season was Ben's 13th Birthday and he was out of school for Easter Monday?!?!...go figure!  We seized the opportunity and made it happen.  The first few days of the youth season were brutal with high winds and cold temps. 

Barn Quilt

According to barnquiltinfo.com the concept of barn quilts began with Donna Sue Groves and her wish to honor her mother, Maxine, and her Appalachian heritage by having a painted quilt hung on her barn in Adams County, Ohio.  No one has been able to document the location of a painted quilt square that existed prior to the Ohio Star that was painted in Adams County, Ohio in 2001. Donna Sue Groves' idea continues to inspire folks across the country to join what has become the largest grassroots public arts movement in our history.

Adding a sports logo helped to make this barn quilt project justifiable on the scale of masculinity!

Expensive Bird

The thrill of the hunt had the reins pulled back once I saw the beard and spurs on this bird!  You see...I promised my boy a full mount of his first Kansas Trophy Turkey, with a score of 67 this bird is headed to the taxidermist!      

Good Luck Charm

On Saturday Ben and I hunted for 12 hours and came so close to sealing the deal several times.  Then on Sunday we decided to take our good luck charm.  Rylie had never been turkey hunting and wanted to tag along with us to see what all the fuss was about.  Walking into the woods, I told her she needed to be quite because we would be setting-up close to the roost tree and we didn't want to spook the turkeys.  Little did I know we had sat-up almost directly below the roost tree and when the first bird gobbled on the roost she almost screamed.  At sunrise 20 birds flew down into our decoys and put on an amazing show.  Ben yelped twice and the rest is history!  Now Rylie thinks turkey hunting is pretty fun!

 

10 Minute Hunt

I am not exactly sure how many miles I have put on my truck during the first month of Turkey Season, but it feels like thousands.  After helping two youth take their first long beards, I was able to get out by myself for a hunt which took all of 10 minutes!

30th Anniversary Kansas Governor's Turkey Hunt

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Kansas Governor's Turkey Hunt.  The Hunt is the longest running of its type in the Country.  I was honored to take Kaleb Davis of Winchester, Tennessee.  Kaleb entered the NWTF Jake's Essay Competition and his essay titled "Today's Conservation and Tomorrow's Heritage" won him a spot in the Governor's Hunt.  Kaleb was accompanied to Kansas by his father Jimmy Davis.

 
After hunting hard all morning we called in reinforcements!  We got the best turkey caller in the world...literally!  Billy Yargus winner of the 2016 Grand National Turkey Calling Championship and World Turkey Calling Championship joined us and was easily able to call in Kaleb's very first turkey!  

To prepare for the big game Daisy and I went on a SUPER goose hunt. 

The stars may never align like this again...in one single sports year I was able to watch my two favorite teams win World Championships!!! 

Great Season

People keep telling me this was a poor waterfowl season and the migration was "messed-up".  We hunted well in excess of 50 times during the season and found birds on every hunt.  Alternating between river hunts, field hunts and pond hunts was a must, also, constant scouting was a key ingredient to success this year.  We often found birds in areas where just a few days prior we had not seen them.  They seemed to do a lot of bouncing around, whereas in years past they would stay in one area until forced out by hunting pressure or ice.   

Almost Over

The 2015/16 Waterfowl Season is almost over, but there are still a few days left.  The weather has robbed us of some precious time on our favorite spots, thank goodness for the river and ice-eaters!